Garage door guard



May 16, 1967 J. M. KROHN GARAGE DOOR GUARD Filed June 22, 1965 INVENTOR JOHN M. KROHN ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,319,697 Patented May 16, 1967 3,319,697 GARAGE DONOR GUARD John M. Krohn, 3260 N. 45th St, Milwaukee, Wis. 53216 Filed June 22, 1965, Ser. No. 465,914 1 Claim. (Cl. 160229) This invention relates to an improvement of a device for guarding the joints of an overhead-roll-type garage door against the accidental loss of a finger between the edges of adjacent door panels when the panels are in angular relation to each other as the door is being closed.

It is an object of this invention to provide a guard adjacent relatively hinged adjacent garage door panels which responds to the hinging movement of the panels and at all times covers the space between the panels regardless of relative angles between the adjacent panels.

The foregoing object and others will become apparent from the following specification of the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of two adjacent door panels of a roll-type garage door.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the panels as they appear when the door is closed.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the panels as they appear when the door is being opened or closed.

The panels 1 and 2 are horizontally disposed and hingedly connected by means of an L-bracket 3 secured to the panel 1, an L-bracket 4 secured to the panel 2, each bracket at one end encircling a hinge pin 5. The axis of hinge pin 5 is disposed in a line of intersection of the planes each coinciding substantially with a corresponding plane of adjacent margins of said panels. Screws 6 secures the brackets 3 and 4 to their respective panels 1 and 2. As viewed in FIGS. 2 and 3, the surface on the right of the panels correspond to the outer face of the door and the surfaces on the left of FIGS. 2 and 3 correspond to the inner face of the door.

A resilient-e1ongated-arcuate plate 7 is mounted on the panel 2 by means of a hinge bracket 8 having a coil spring 10 which urges the plate 7 about the hinge pin 11 into constant contact with the panel 1. The axis of the hinge pin 11 is disposed in a plane common with a plane corresponding substantially with the plane of panel 2 and intersecting the axis of binge pin 5. The plate 7 extends substantially the full width of the door and thereby covers the open area 12,

when panels 1 and 2 are angularly disposed relative to each other.

The inner surfaces of the panels are provided with a resilient plate 15 which is V-shaped in cross section and extends substantially the width of the door. Like the plate 7, the plate 15 is hingedly mounted on the door panel 2 by means of a hinge bracket 16 secured to inner face of the panel. A coil spring 18 encircling the hinge pin 19 urges the plate 15 into contact with panel 1 and serves to cover the space between the panels when the door is being opened or closed.

From the foregoing, it will be obvious that it would be virtually impossible for a garage door operator to acci'dently place his hand or fingers in the area 12, from either side of the door whether or not the door is opened or closed.

I claim:

In an overhead roll-type garage door, the combination with two adjacent hinged door panels, the hinge means of said panels being disposed on one side of said panels and the axis of said hinge means being disposed in a line of intersection common to the planes of adjacent sides of said panels, of an elongated resilient plate extending substantially the width of said door, said plate hingedly mounted on one panel on a side of said one panel and opposite said one side of said panels, said plate contacting the other door panel, the hinge mounting of said plate including a hinge pin having its axis disposed in a plane coinciding with the axis of said hinge means and the adjacent planes of said panels and a spring member urging said plate into contact with said other panel, said sprin comprising a torsion coil spring disposed about the axis of said hinge pm.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,626,844 5/1927 Kuhn -229 2,910,741 11/1959 Dettman 49383 2,995,785 8/1961 Hallenbeck 49383 FOREIGN PATENTS 743,086 1/ 1956 Great Britain.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner.

P. M. CAUN, Assistant Examiner. 

